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Anchor Performances

A common complaint among American Idol fans is that the producers
often save the most desirable performance slot of the evening –
the final one – for their favored contestants. Some detractors have gone
so far as to dub it "The Pimp Spot," perhaps in reaction to the shenanigans of
Season Two
when
Clay Aiken and
Ruben Studdard
sang last a whopping nine times
combined, including each of the final seven episodes. If
Kimberley Locke
had dragged Simon Fuller onto the stage and slapped him silly
on national TV, would any jury have convicted her?

Thankfully, AI has been a bit more reasonable in recent years about sharing the spotlight.
For instance, ten different contestants had a turn in the anchor spot in
Season Six,
including much-maligned
Sanjaya Malakar
who came through admirably with his highest-rated performance. And to
be fair to the producers, they have a legitimate
business interest in saving the best for last. A great anchor
performance can help whitewash 55 minutes of lackluster singing, sends the audience
off on a good note, and helps kick-starts the voting. "Leave 'em laughing when you go"
was a basic tenet of show business long before Judy Collins sang those words.

Whatever the producers' motiviations, the Pimp Spot usually lives up to the hype:
An average approval rating of
64.0,
66 five-star performances
(including 15 rating out at
90 or higher),
and most significantly, an elimination rate close to zero.
Through the first
seven seasons, just four finalists — 4! — have been knocked
out of the competition from the anchor slot: Aiken in the AI2 Finale,
Melinda Doolittle
in AI6's Final Three,
David Archuleta
in the AI7 finale, and...can you guess the fourth? Page
through the list below for the unlikely answer (or, if you don't feel like
searching, just hover your pointer
here.)